Page 26 of Give a Devil his Due
“What are you thinking, Shadow?” Satanael growls when Colt snorts at his question.
I ignore my twin.
“Since we came across the trolls and rogues, I kept asking myself how they managed to come at us from both sides when neither of us heard or sensed anything.” Removing my fingers from Helena, I press my palm on her lower back to guide her one step ahead of me. “It looked too organized to be accidental.”
“You’re trying to say they knew we were going to be in that exact spot and popped in the tunnel on purpose?” The horror on my mate’s face doesn’t sit well with me, but we have to look at all angles.
Raphael steps closer to her, and she instantly calms.
A frown pinches my forehead at that.
Shaking my head, I turn to Satanael again. “All I’m saying is if some of these doors do open, we need to proceed with caution. No more surprises.”
With a nod, he starts swiveling his head once so often, checking every discoloration on the walls we pass like it’s an enemy he needs to install fear into. Colt, for all his pestering, pays closer attention to our surroundings, following on Beelzebub’s footsteps in case the other male fails to see a huge door embedded in the concrete.
“It could’ve been them in this part of the tunnel instead of us.” Raphael voices my turbulent thoughts. “Helena was not the target if it was indeed an attack.”
I’m not so sure about that.
“You guys are incorrigible.” The attempt to lighten the mood falls flat with Helena’s worried tone. “Not everyone is out to get me, you know. I’m pretty sure some of these idiots are just happy to be out of Hell.”
“I can relate to that.” She flashes me a smile when I mumble my agreement with her, but it rings in my own ears.
“You would, wouldn’t you?” My twin jabs from the side, unaware that hurt is plastered all over his face. I doubt he will ever forgive me for leaving him behind when I walked out on my father.
My mouth opens, ready to say … something. Apologize maybe?
I never get the chance.
“Do you hear that?” Satanael jerks to a stop, his hand lifting next to his head into the universal sign to hold.
We all freeze in the spot.
I hold my breath, not daring to make a sound as I strain my ears, but I don’t hear anything. The backpack slides down my arm, and I drop it with a dull thud before tugging Helena to my chest. Keeping her there with one arm around her waist, I cock my head as if that will somehow help reveal whatever sounds Satanael is listening to in his head. When Raphael turns his back and moves closer to sandwich my mate between us, my tense muscles uncoil.
Shadows dance over everyone’s faces from the glow emanating from Raphael, forming sharp angles on their cheekbones and jawlines. Deeper in the darkness from where the three of us are clustered, their eyes, apart from the human, glow like a cat’s when faced with a flashlight. Dread pools in my gut, weighing me down.
That’s when I feel it.
Leave it to Satanael to confuse the senses. It’s not a sound that got his attention at all. It’s a sensation that I wish I never felt, but there is nothing I can do. I have to get Helena out of here, now.
The ground under our feet vibrates.
At first, it’s a gentle brush under the soles of my boots, but the longer I’m focused on it, the stronger it gets. I physically see it the moment the rest of them realize what is going on. One by one, they stiffen, their heads whipping around to gawk at the others. Urgency kicks me in the ass, and I tighten my arm around Helena.
She gasps.
From how hard I grab her or from noticing the vibrations, I’m not sure, and I don’t care. Lifting her off the ground, I throw her over my shoulder and spin for the side of the tunnel, where I can see a deeper shadow indicating there is a door there. Locked or unlocked, I’ll rip it with my hands if I have to, but we are getting out of here.
“There.” My shout booms in the silence a moment later, and it’s followed by an insistent buzzing. It builds in my ears like pressure threatening to blow my eardrums to shreds. Keeping my arm raised and finger pointed, I sprint for it with everything in me. “Move.”
Thudding footsteps follow my lead as we bolt for what I think is a damn door. It better be because we are too large to fit in the narrow path and stay unharmed. It was made for humans, not beasts of our size to use as a safe passage. We will be swept away and shredded to a bloody pulp in seconds unless we get out of the cemented death trap we willingly entered.
A shrill horn splits the air, turning my blood to ice.
The train is coming.
Helena
